Community empowerment
Knowledge is power. This is what Namakwati community action group (CAG) is proving to people in Nkhotakota and beyond.
The group has taken advantage of a willing community to use their knowledge to improve lives and the well-being of people in Group Village Head (GVH) Namakwati in T/A Malengachanzi in the district.
Namakwati CAG chairperson Yusuf Kambwiri says capacity building on community mobilisation, which the CAG members underwent, was an eye-opener and it has been the genesis of remarkable improvements in health status within GVH Namakwati.
“The CAG is under GVH Namakwati with 19 villages and a total population of 3 784 of which 1 912 are males and 1 872 are females,” he says.
Support for service delivery integration (SSDI) is implementing the community mobilisation project in Nkhotakota through sub-grantee Nkhotakota Aids Support Organisation (Naso).
From August 2014 to August 2015, Namakwati CAG has made achievements in essential health package (EHP) in water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash), maternal health, nutrition, malaria, HIV and Aids and family planning.
Namakwati CAG member Hafeti Chimphangu says they revamped Namakwati Aids Support Organisation by telling the affected people the benefits of joining the group.
Ellen Kaunda, a member of the Aids support organisation, says CAG has assisted in minimising discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) and that is why people are now willing to join the group.
On Wash, CAG has lobbied Total Land Care (TLC) for safe water sources and they got two boreholes. The group also facilitated protection of four shallow wells with support from TLC.
Kambwiri says after the sinking of the boreholes, community members contribute towards maintenance costs.
CAG has also facilitated the construction of 43 pit latrines in Muthanje Village and are installed with hand washing facilities. This village had only three toilets but had a lot of diarrhea cases.
GVH Namakwati says he took the leading role in coming up with a good toilet with a hand washing facility to reduce prevalence of diseases in the community.
On nutrition, they formed women nutrition group known as Mwana wathanzi that facilitates nutritional activities in the community.
The women group chairperson Hindu Sabiti says they lobbied Concern Worldwide to provide vegetable seeds, watering cans and hoes for backyard gardens to support under-nourished children and PLHIV.
On maternal health, they have lobbied for a bicycle ambulance from Concern Worldwide to assist in carrying pregnant women due to delivery and other patients to the nearest health centre and they got one.
Kambwiri also says they formed a village by-law committee to facilitate formulation, translation and reinforcement of the by-laws.
Ministry of Health director of preventive health services Dr. Stone Kabuluzi says the community has been empowered through CAG and the results can be felt on the ground.
“I am particularly impressed with the Wash programme whereby they have boreholes to reduce distance to safe water and the hand washing facilities in toilets,” says Kabuluzi.
Jhpiego Performance Based Incentives Advisor William Twahirwa says it is encouraging to see how the community has been empowered and partnered with other development partners to develop their area.
